Blues Sr. Men victorious in CRC Game 2; will meet BC in semis

January 01, 1970

Ontario Blues Sr. Men's team victorious in Game 2 of Canadian Rugby Championships; will play BC Bears in semi-final

(BURLINGTON, ON) – The Ontario Blues Senior Men’s team avenged their opening loss to the Atlantic Rock with a strong display on Tuesday night at Burlington Centaurs Rugby Football Club. The Blues did not allow the Rock to score a try, only conceding three penalty conversions. The final score at the end of the match was 22-9 for the Ontario Blues, who were able to secure their first Canadian Rugby Championship (CRC) win of the season.

In the first half, Ontario got things started with a Kolby Francis try. Shawn Windsor completed the conversion to give the Blues the early lead. Cooper Coats of the Rock hit two penalty conversions in the half, but the Blues had the narrow 7-6 lead going into the second frame.

The Blues were resilient in their attack, spending much of the second half in Rock territory. Early on in the second half, Mitch Richardson was able to get past the first line of Rock defense and get the ball off to Windsor who scored right under the posts. He converted his own try to pad the Blues’ lead. Next, after a goal line stand from the Rock, Marcello Wainwright was able to get the ball over the line off of a Mike Smith offload and bring the Blues’ lead to 19-6. Windsor and Coats traded penalty conversions to end the game and the Ontario Blues came away with a 22-9 victory.

Though the Blues secured an series advantage in point differential with the win, the Rock secured a bonus point in their Game 1 five-try performance. With the point advantage, the Rock place first in the East division and will match up against the Prairie Wolfpack in their semi-final. The Blues will face their rivals, the BC Bears in their semi-final on Thursday August 23 in Calgary at 7:00pm ET. More details about the match including the Blues’ roster and streaming details will be announced shortly.

For more information on the Ontario Blues Senior Men’s program, go to https://www.rugbyontario.com/blues-senior-men/.

BLUES SCORING

Tries: Kolby Francis, Shawn Windsor, Marcello Wainwright

Conversions: Shawn Windsor x2

Penalties: Shawn Windsor

ROCK SCORING

Penalties: Cooper Coats x3

Ontario Blues Senior Men’s Starting XV vs. Atlantic Rock - August 7, 2018

1. Rob Brouwer, Lindsay RFC/Ontario Arrows (Capt.)

2. Andrew Quattrin, Aurora Barbarians/Ontario Arrows

3. Tom Dolezel, London St. George's/Ontario Arrows

4. Tom Van Horne, Brantford Harlequins/Ontario Arrows

5. Ben Jones, Balmy Beach

6. Peter Milazzo, Toronto Scottish/Ontario Arrows

7. Marcello Wainwright, Toronto Scottish/Ontario Arrows

8. Kolby Francis, Brantford Harlequins/Ontario Arrows

9. Riley Dinardo, Toronto Scottish

10. Shawn Windsor, Stoney Creek Camels/Ontario Arrows (Vice Capt.)

11. Josiah Morra, Toronto Saracens

12. Jamie Leveridge, Crusaders/Ontario Arrows

13. Mitch Richardson, Stoney Creek Camels/Ontario Arrows

14. D'Shawn Bowen, Kingston Panthers

15. Nate Boeyenga, Brantford Harlequins

Reserves

16. Jack McRogers, Aurora Barbarians/Ontario Arrows

17. Andrew Wilson, Burlington Centaurs/Ontario Arrows

18. Mike Smith, Toronto Scottish/Ontario Arrows

20. Matt Fish, Waterloo County

21. Jesse Lofthouse, Markham Irish

22. Kyle Lagasca, Guelph Redcoats/Ontario Arrows

23. Graham Dobbs, Crusaders

26. Emerson Prior, Peterborough Pagans

Coaching Staff

Head Coach-Chris Silverthorn

Assistant Coach-Cory Hector

Assistant Coach-Aaron Carpenter

Manager-Mark Winokur

Performance Analyst-Rodin Lozada

Ontario Blues Senior Men’s Canadian Rugby Championship Schedule

GAME 1: Blues vs. Atlantic Rock (L 34-22) – August 4, 2018 – Concordia University, Montreal QC

GAME 2: Atlantic Rock vs. Blues (W 22-9) – August 7, 2018 – Burlington ON

SEMI FINAL: Blues vs. BC Bears – August 23, 2018 – 7:00pm ET – Calgary, AB

GOLD/BRONZE: August 26, 2018 – Calgary, AB

ABOUT THE ONTARIO BLUES

The Ontario Blues program is the high performance representative program for male and female rugby players in Ontario. Rugby Ontario is represented at the provincial level by the Ontario Blues. The program includes representative teams from Under-15 to Senior in both Women’s and Men’s Fifteens and Under-18 Men's and Women's Sevens. Specifically, the program is designed to develop and showcase rugby players for Canadian representative national teams.

ABOUT RUGBY ONTARIO

Rugby Ontario is the provincial sports governing body responsible for the organization of rugby in Ontario. Our mission is to establish a stronger identity for rugby in Ontario by promoting the sport’s core values and by fostering a culture of inclusiveness and excellence on and off the field of play.

To learn more, visit https://www.rugbyontario.com/